Paddling with killers.

[DavidJohn]

A group of sup boarders paddling with killer whales in New Zealand.,

[pdxmike]

That's my dream, to paddle with Orcas in Puget Sound.  Great video--looks like everyone's enjoying each others' company.

[SUPcheat]

I know they don't have a taste for humans and are intelligent enough to distinguish their prey, but that would still be a bit nerve wracking compared to dolphins.

[Badger]

Those are just very young juvenile Orca's, probably out exploring the world for the first time by themselves. I wonder what the paddlers would do if an adult Orca showed up. That would scare the crap out of me.

It's amazing that Orca's don't eat humans. It makes no sense for such a large predator to pass up a perfectly good meal. Perhaps they are intelligent enough to know that there might be consequences for that type of behavior.

[Night Wing]

Usually in a pod of orcas, there is one animal who is the alpha for that pod and with those paddleboarders being so close to the orcas, if that alpha animal got ticked off for any reason, someone could really get hurt or worse, killed.

Reminds me of an old adage, "Better to be safe than sorry".

[Tom]

Not   all  of  them  are  juveniles 

[DavidJohn]

Here in Oz there's a place called Eden that used to be an old whaling town and there is a Killer Whale museum there.. In this museum the main attraction is a full killer whale skeleton and if you look close at its teeth the front ones are worn though and the rear teeth have obvious wear marks.. This particular Orca would appear if a fishing boat was in danger of getting smashed onto to rocks in rough seas and the fishermen would throw over a rope and the Orca would grab the rope in its mouth and tow the boat away from the rocks and all the way to protected and safe waters.. The rope caused the wear marks in the whales teeth.. Amazing animals..

[Badger]

Not   all  of  them  are  juveniles

Now that you mention it, I do see some bigger ones in some of the shots. 20 feet maybe? None of them look full size though.

[baddog]

That's my dream, to paddle with Orcas in Puget Sound.  Great video--looks like everyone's enjoying each others' company.

Crazy!  Just got back and I have to say I wasn't so thrilled that there was a recent Orca sighting in Quartermaster.

[pdxmike]

That's my dream, to paddle with Orcas in Puget Sound.  Great video--looks like everyone's enjoying each others' company.

Crazy!  Just got back and I have to say I wasn't so thrilled that there was a recent Orca sighting in Quartermaster.

It's a special situation for me.  I paddle quite a bit in Penn Cove on Whidbey Island where the first killer whales were captured in 1970 when I was a kid in Seattle.  Back then, the capturers were heroes, every grade school class went to the aquarium to see the ferocious killer whales, and everything was great. Later the views changed, as people recognized how intelligent and familial orcas are, how many were slaughtered during the captures, how cruel the captures were, how bad captivity is, etc.


The orcas avoided Penn Cove for decades after the capture.  Lately, they've returned.  It feels like they know it's safe again.  I haven't seen any yet myself, but there've been lots of sightings in the last few years.  So seeing one while I'm paddling would represent the end of a whole bad chapter and return to normalcy.  I'm happy to see them from a distance, though.

[Tom]

I saw one twice when I was paddle surfing in Baja. I caught sight of its fin out of the corner of my eye and didn't know what it was. I knew it wasn't a shark or dolphin and didn't think about Orkas.  A little later is surfaces while swimming about 30 to 50 yards away from me and I figured it out. Pretty cool.

[PonoBill]

When I first got into windsurfing I had two boards, a 11' Aiken (high performance, dude) and a no-name, 12' rotomolded thing I bought from West Marine. Yeah, it was a long time ago, probably 1981-82. By 1983 I was buying Schuler custom boards and commuting to the Gorge every evening after work.  I took the no-name up to the San Juans and spent three weeks sailing between the islands towing a 6-foot liferaft with camping gear in it--poor man's cruiser. Had a blast. I encountered Orcas three times, two were at a distance, one was up close and VERY personal. Had a big pod all around me, popping their heads up to look at me, bumping my board, splashing me, and knocking me in the water twice. The second time was on purpose, and I had the clear sense they were fucking with me.

It was nerve-wracking because they are so big, but I never felt threatened, and I was laughing and yelling most of the time--except for the second time they bumped me off the board.

I also encountered a big pod Kayaking, about 1990ish. the pod was hanging out between two moored sailboats, going after some little fish. I paddled into the middle of the pod, which was a mistake. they were busy eating, were a little frantic, and didn't want to play. I got shoved around a bit and almost went over a few times--not good with a full load on the Kayak. I paddled up against one of the sailboats and they passed me a line which I hung onto with a death grip until the big boys moved on.

[coldsup]

Here in Oz there's a place called Eden that used to be an old whaling town and there is a Killer Whale museum there.. In this museum the main attraction is a full killer whale skeleton and if you look close at its teeth the front ones are worn though and the rear teeth have obvious wear marks.. This particular Orca would appear if a fishing boat was in danger of getting smashed onto to rocks in rough seas and the fishermen would throw over a rope and the Orca would grab the rope in its mouth and tow the boat away from the rocks and all the way to protected and safe waters.. The rope caused the wear marks in the whales teeth.. Amazing animals..

That's a great story.......surely a bit of folklore in that?

[CascadeSup]

Hate to be the wet blanket here, but that activity would get you a warning or $1000 fine if this were on the Puget Sound in Washington state.  Orcas are classified as an endangered species by the U.S. and Canadian federal governments and by Washington State.  Since 2008, regulations make it unlawful to:

Approach within 200 yards of a southern resident whale;

Position a vessel to be in the path of a southern resident whale at any point located within 400 yards of the whale. This includes intercepting a southern resident whale by positioning a vessel so that the prevailing wind or water current carries the vessel into the path of the whale at any point located within 400 yards of the whale. Vessels are defined as including aircraft, canoes, fishing vessels, kayaks, personal watercraft, rafts, recreational vessels, tour boats, whale watching boats, vessels engaged in whale watching activities, or other small craft including power boats and sailboats;

Fail to disengage the transmission of a vessel that is within 200 yards of a southern resident whale; or

Feed a southern resident whale.

http://wdfw.wa.gov/conservation/orca/

[SUPcheat]

I'm pretty sure I saw an Orca outside the kelp bed s while ago.  It looked like a dolphin, only huge with a much larger fin and body, although I saw no details other than the fin and the upper body.  They said Orcas were being sighted around Capitola at that time.

When I came in from SUP today at Privates, a guy paddled up to me and intercepted me to tell me he saw a  Great White in the waters very close off shore right there at Privates, and the shark was sticking his head and snout out of the water and circling around.

I couldn't spot the shark when I went to shore, but sure wasn't going to stay in the water with him around.